4G Mobile Hotspot

[moxie]

Originally Posted by pajara2

Hey Everybody!

As part of my upcoming move, I am going to have to change internet providers. So one of the options I am looking at is going with Sprint's 4G mobile hotspot device. The way my plan with Sprint is already structured it would actually be cheaper than what I pay now for internet.

But how good is it really?????

We have mine and The Boy's laptops that would be moving all around the small apartment (700 sqft maybe), and then The Boy's desktop and iMac. I know it says it will provide service to up to 5 devices at a time. But my bigger concern is, will my signal on the laptop be good in the next room? Like what is the range on it? I know our current modem does okay in our house, but it's a full on modem.

So my question to y'all is,
Do any of you use a mobile hotspot device daily for your internet service at home or work?

Do you experience much service down time?

Who is your provider? (or just if you use Sprint)

Do you experience "dead" spots in your home/business where your computer doesn't pick up?

Anything you feel I should know?

Anybody use something other than your local cable/dish/phone provider for internet access?

Thanks bunches my tech-savvy friends.
A

I can tell you that I do not use a Sprint Mobile Hotspot but for work I use a Sprint portable cellular modem (598U by Sierra Wireless) and I can't stand it. I NEVER get full signal strength no matter where I am (I usually have only one or two bars). I only use it for web access so my notes through a web-based electronic medical records program and it's okay but drops ALL the time. I've never downloaded or streamed anything though. And Sprint is the smallest cell company here in Louisville I think, so that could be part of the reception issue. But my phone service is okay on my work cell. And we are definitely not 4G here.

I have a dry/naked (don't have a landline phone but goes through the phone jack) DSL through AT&T and I have the lowest speed, pay $20/month, use my wireless router and have NO problems at home. In the 3.5 years I have had it, it has gone out only twice. I highly recommend it

[pajama]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

You can download programs to make your phones wifi and just plug them in.

Ohhhh will get J researching that.

Originally Posted by Linus

I have Verizon FIOS. 30-35MB both up and down. Now that said, the wireless that's built in is ok (reaches to the front yard where I spend most of my day) but now and again quits during the day (I suspect a nearby neighbour who has a wireless handset phone).

Personally, things like MiFi and/or Sprint's 4G are meant for laptops on the road. For me I cannot conceive of them being ok for home use, especially with that many computers. You'd be, IMO, better off with cable or DSL and getting a wireless router hooked up to those. It ends up being cheaper and easier to control.

One thing to note: wireless networks like 3G and 4G tend to have high latency, which is ok for phones and tablets but tends to suck for many of the apps we run on computers.

I was hoping you would see this and post to it as well. ummm What is latency? And I kinda figured it was too good to be true. LOL

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

Also, on 3g if you download over a certain amount you get charged even with unlimited data. I learned the hard way during my LOST obsession.

Those sneeky bastids. Great to know. I asked Sprint about this because I am on "unlimited" and don't want to get a nasty surprise. They said it would be unlimited that I could stay on all day and night, but didn't mention about uploading or downloading, which The Boy does an immense amount of. Sorry you learned the hard way, I will learn from your mistake. Thank you.

Originally Posted by puregrrl

I have a dry/naked (don't have a landline phone but goes through the phone jack) DSL through AT&T and I have the lowest speed, pay $20/month, use my wireless router and have NO problems at home. In the 3.5 years I have had it, it has gone out only twice. I highly recommend it

I was wondering about that. I don't understand all the tech stuff enough to know whether I could just get internet through the phone line without the phone. Thank you! I will check this out. Oh, and when you say lowest speed, it's not too slow or stuff? Do you download alot or stream movies on it? How does it seem for that? We don't game online so I don't care about the speed for that. Thanks.

[moxie]

Originally Posted by pajara2

I was wondering about that. I don't understand all the tech stuff enough to know whether I could just get internet through the phone line without the phone. Thank you! I will check this out. Oh, and when you say lowest speed, it's not too slow or stuff? Do you download alot or stream movies on it? How does it seem for that? We don't game online so I don't care about the speed for that. Thanks.

I download music mostly...song on itunes takes about a minute at the most. I haven't streamed any full-length movies yet.

My connection is a 768 Kbps. The highest, which is 6 Mbps is less than $10 more/month...I am cheap. Right now I could get 6 Mbps services for $24.95/month for the first year if I was a new customer. There aren't a bunch of taxes on it like you get with cell/cable services. The price they say it is a month is the price you pay. AT&T has discount for the first year and then jacks it up after the year about $5-10/month. Still MUCH cheaper than internet through the cable company here and much more reliable.

Now, AT&T is the local landline phone service here, so I don't know if that is why we have this service. If your landline phone provider is Verizon they have similar dry DSL.

[Linus]

Originally Posted by pajara2

I was hoping you would see this and post to it as well. ummm What is latency? And I kinda figured it was too good to be true. LOL

Latency means the length of time that it takes for a single packet to go from your computer to a destination and then back again. The lower the latency, the fast and more stable a network. The higher the latency, the more packets that are dropped and the more unstable a network.

[T D]

Originally Posted by Linus

Latency means the length of time that it takes for a single packet to go from your computer to a destination and then back again. The lower the latency, the fast and more stable a network. The higher the latency, the more packets that are dropped and the more unstable a network.

And if I'm not mistaken, the more connections the slower it all goes.

[Linus]

Originally Posted by T D

And if I'm not mistaken, the more connections the slower it all goes.

Certainly (connections mean more computers, not multiple websites accesses) but sometimes latency can occur without the extra connections.